I wanted to share this article in light of the fact that Dr. David Oren and his search for the mapinguari is featured on tonight’s episode of Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot entitled Amazon Squatchin’.

In August of 1999 or so, I ran across the article in Discover magazine. It chronicled an ornithologist named David Oren’s treks into the Amazon in search of the Mapinguari, what is thought to be the still living giant ground sloth. The article detailed the derision that Oren suffered from his fellow scientists.

For six seasons of FINDING BIGFOOT, four fearless explorers have covered thousands of miles of uncharted territory in 38 states and eight countries on a mission to locate elusive sasquatches. On, Sunday, May 31, at 9 PM, the unstoppable quartet head to South America for the first time with the hope of finally tracking down one of the most unique creatures of the world.

Bill Brock and his team suspect recent black bear deaths are due to the Mapinguari: a descendant of the giant prehistoric sloth. Together they travel to Graveyard Gulch, a treacherous cave in Northern California to hunt this deadly monster.

Across the American wilderness, millions of acres of uncharted swamplands and underground lairs are rumored to be inhabited by unidentified monsters. Generations of speculation have piqued the curiosity of nearby communities and monster enthusiasts alike, but none have come close to solving the mystery of what these elusive creatures are… until now.